Battery light



H. T. KINGSBURY EWZKQM BATTERY LIGHT Filed April 29, 1935 Patented Jan.14, 1936 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE Application April 29, 1933, SerialNo. 668.646

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in electric battery lamps,and more particularly to improvements in portable electric battery lampsof the flashlight type.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved portableelectric lamp, of the type referred to, wherein a cap member, which isadapted to aid in supporting a light bulb and switch mechanism, isadapted to be fitted directly over the terminal end. of an electricbattery and to be frictionally held thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a flashlight, of thetype referred to, wherein the light support fits Within an opening in.the cap .15 member and. is adapted to telescope therein and whereinresilient means are adapted to act upon the light support to normallyhold the light bulb terminal out of contact With the battery terminal. v20 A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedlight support and. switch unit which may be directly applied to and heldby friction on the terminal end of the battery.

A still-further object of the invention is to pro- 25 vide an improvedunit, i the type referred to,

which may he applied to the terminal end of electric battery and whichis {adapted to effect an rinterrnittent [or continuous lighting circuit.

A still further :object :of the invention is "to 30 provide, in a-deviceof the character referred to, .an improved light z rsupport and frictionring interfitting relationship and normally gheld apart by a springmember and :a ;cap member which is adapted to aid i-niholding rthecomponent parts 35 together and which :is :provided "with means forefiecting ca econtinuous :lighting (circuit when the light :support :isslightly iturned.

The invention estill further aims :to :provide an improved rcaplaSS6Il'lb1y,:'df :-the type referred to,

' whichimayibegapplied. directl-yito aabatterywhere- "l by to provide:an inexpensiveflashlight which -is readily assembled sandwhich isefficient ain operation to aif'ord I either continuous or iintermittentillumination.

These and. other objects of the inventionwill appear-obvious and *willbehereinaf ter=more fully "described.

In the drawing:

. Figure-1 isa perspective view showing the comshowing the.cap.assemblywithJthe circuit open.

Fig.3 isalsimilar viewmsho-wing the relative position ofithe.parts .whenthe circuit is closed.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap assem bly.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the cap member when used withanotherform of battery.

In general, the present invention aims to provide a novel light supportand switch assembly which may be directly applied to and frictionallyheld on the terminal end of the usual dry cell battery whereby toprovide an inexpensive flashlight. A cap member is adapted tofrictionally engage the side of the battery and isprovided with acentral opening above the battery top.

A light supporting member and a friction ring are loosely connected toprevent disengagement from the action of an enclosed coil spring whichnorl5 mally holds the same apart, but the connection is such that thelight support may be moved to- Wardthe battery top when pressure isapplied. The friction ring rests upon the top of the battery andencircles the battery terminal. The depending edge of the opening in thecap member is provided with cam surfaces which" are engaged by lugs onthe light support to prevent disengagement thereof but to permittelescoping movement of the light support within the opening in the capmember so that the light terminal mayoontact with the battery terminalwhen the light support is depressed toward the battery. When the lightsupport is turned in a clockwise direction, the lugs thereon willpassover the cam surfacesand so cause the light support to descendwithin the opening in the cap member whereby the light terminal may beheld in contact with the battery terminal in order to provide acontinuous lighting-effect.

Referring more indetail to Figures 1-4 of the accompanying drawing,.oneform of dry cell battery .lil isshown with the usual flhrouscovering .Hand 'metaljacket 12 which is provided with a metal top closure 13throughwhich extends the 40 batteryterminal l4. Suitable insulatingcompoition l5 preventscontact-between the metal top and the batteryterminal. A bottom closing member lfi maylbe fitted over one endof thebattery and irictionally held thereon toprevent extraneous ,matter ,fromcontacting therewith. A cap member ll ispprovided with an offsetdepending skirt 18 which may be slipped on the terminal end ofthebattery and frictionally held thereon. The oifset portioniS o-fthecapmember i1 is adapted to rest upon the top of the battery in order toinsure the proper assembly of thevariops parts to be hereinafterdescribed. There extends upwardly from the offset portion 19 of the capmember. I ta vertical wall, in. which isinwardly bent to provide adepending skirt portion 2| thus providing a central opening through thetop of the cap member. The depending skirt portion 2| is provided with aseries of cam or wedge surfaces 22 the function of which will bedescribed hereinafter.

A dome-shaped member 23 is provided with a central opening and anangular projection 24 which permit the threaded end 25 of a light bulb26 to be screwed therein whereby the bulb is supported. The dependingedge of the light supporting member 23 is provided with a series ofoutwardly extending lugs 21 which are adapted to engage the edges of thewedge surfaces 22 of the cap member II in order to prevent the lightsupport from becoming disengaged from the cap member. The lightsupporting member 23 is also provided with a series of alternatelyspaced inwardly extending lugs 28 which are adapted to engage the bottomface of the horizontal flange 29 of a friction ring 30. The lower edgeof the friction ring 33 is bent to provide a channel 3|, the bottom ofwhich rests upon the surface of the metal top l3 of the battery I andencircles the battery terminal I4. A coil spring 32, having one endseated in the channel portion 3! of the friction ring 30 and the otherend thereof pushing against the under surface of the light supportingmember 23, is adapted to normally hold the light supporting member inthe position shown in Fig. 2 whereby the terminal 33 of the light bulb26 isout of contact with the battery terminal M. In this position, thelugs 21 engage the reduced edges of the wedge faces 22 on the cap memberand the lugs 28 engage the under face of the flange 29 of the frictionring 30. It is thus apparent that the light supporting member cannotbecome disengaged and it is also apparent that the electric circuit isopen.

When it is desired to merely flash the light bulb on, it is simplynecessary to press down with a finger upon the light support 23 toovercome the spring action so that the light terminal 33 will contactthe battery terminal I4 so that an electric circuit is completed betweenthe battery terminal through the light bulb, light support and frictionring to the metal top I3 of the battery cell. Then, when pressure isreleased from the light support 23, it will be urged back by the actionof the spring 32 to the position shown in Fig. 2. If it is desired tocontinuously close the electric circuit 50 that the light bulb willremain illuminated, it is necessary to merely rotate the light support23 in a clockwise direction about a quarter of a turn, as shown in Fig.3. When the light support is rotated, the lugs 21 thereon engage the camor wedge surfaces 22 and the support 23 is gradually depressed until thelight terminal 33 contacts with battery terminal 14 to close theelectric li hting circuit. To open the circuit, the light support 23 maybe rotated in a reverse direction until the position shown in Fig. 2 isagain assumed.

In some dry cell batteries, there is no metal top to the battery butsimply an entire covering of insulating composition. In this type ofbattery, as shown in Fig. 5, the fibrous jacket Il may be cut to provideopenings 34 and the depending rim or skirt portion l8 of the cap memberI! may be provided with inwardly projecting lugs 35 to register with theopenings 34 in the jacket whereby to engage the metal portion of thebattery so that an electric circuit may be completed in the mannerpreviously described.

To assemble the cap assembly, the light support 23 and the friction ring30 are interfltted with the coil spring 32 in position therebetween. Theassembly of light support and friction ring. are then inserted in theopening in the cap member I! which is then slipped over the terminal endof the battery and frictionally held thereon.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the presentinvention provides a novel device which may be applied to the end of.

a dry cell battery whereby to furnish an eX-'= tremely efficient andinexpensive flashlight which permits the ready removal and replacementof the batteries.

It is, of course, obvious that minor changes in details of constructionand arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. A flashlight comprising a battery, a cap" member adapted tofrictionally engage said battery, said cap member having an openingabove the battery, cam surfaces around the edge of the opening in saidcap member, a light bulb supporting member adapted to telescope withinthe opening in said cap member, means on said supporting member forengaging said cam surfaces to close an electric circuit upon rotation ofsaid supporting member in one direction and said cam surfaces beingadapted to limit the rotation of said supporting member in the oppositedirection, and means for normally holding the light bulb terminal out ofcontact with the battery terminal.

2. A flashlight comprising a battery, a cap member adapted tofrictionally engage said battery at the terminal end thereof, said capmember having an opening above the battery terminal, a light bulbsupporting member adapted to reciprocate within and relative to theopening in said cap member, means for limiting the outward movement ofsaid supporting member, a friction ring interconnected with said lightbulb supporting member and resting upon the end of the battery andencircling the battery terminal, and a coil spring seated in said ringand bearing against said supporting member whereby to normally hold thelight bulb terminal out of contact with the battery terminal.

3. A flashlight comprising a battery, a cap member adapted tofrictionally engage said battery and having an opening therein, a lightbulb supporting member adapted to telescope within and relative to theopening in said cap member, means for limiting the outward movement ofsaid supporting member, a friction ring interconnected with said lightbulb supporting member and resting upon the end of said battery andencircling the battery terminal, and a coil spring seated in saidfriction ring and adapted to normally urge said supporting member awayfrom the battery.

4. In a flashlight, a lamp supporting and switch assembly comprising acap member having an opening therein, a lamp supporting member adaptedto telescope within the opening in said cap member, cam surfaces on saidcap member, lugs on said supporting member adapted to engage said camsurfaces, a friction ring having a horizontal flange, additional lugs onsaid supporting member adapted to engage said horizontal flange, and aspring member adapted to normally urge said supporting member and saidfriction ring apart.

5. A flashlight comprising a battery, a cap member adapted tofrictionally engage said battery and having an opening therein above theend of the battery, a lamp supporting member adapted to telescope withinthe opening in said cap member, a friction ring resting upon the batteryand encircling the battery terminal, a coil spring seated in saidfriction ring and adapted to normally urge said supporting member awayfrom the battery, and means operative upon the rotation of saidsupporting member for causing the lamp terminal to engage the batteryterminal whereby to close an electric circuit.

6. A flashlight comprising a battery, a cap member adapted to engage theterminal end of said battery, said cap member having an opening therein,a supporting member adapted to fit within the opening in said capmember, a light bulb carried by said supporting member, means forconnecting said supporting member to said cap member to permit a limitedreciprocal movement of said supporting member within the opening in saidcap member, a resilient member having one end thereof bearing againstsaid supporting member whereby tourge the same outwardly, and meansconnected to said supporting member for receiving the opposite end ofsaid resilient member.

7. In combination with a battery, a hollow cap member adapted to befitted over the terminal end of said battery in fixed relation thereto,said cap member having an inwardly bent and depending peripheral portionabove said battery, a lamp supporting member, means associated with saidsupporting member and the depending portion of said cap member forlimiting the outward movement of said lamp supporting member, said lampsupporting member being movable inwardly to close an electric circuit,and means for normally urging said lamp supporting member outwardly toopen the electric circuit.

8. In combination with a dry cell battery, a hollow cap member engagingthe terminal end of said battery in fixed relation thereto and having aninwardly curled depending peripheral portion disposed above saidbattery, a supporting member fitted within the depending portion of saidcap member and movable relative thereto, a light bulb carried by saidsupporting member, means on said supporting member for engaging thedepending portion of said cap memher for limiting the outward movementthereof, said lamp supporting member being adapted to be forced inwardlywhereby to contact the central light bulb terminal with one of thebattery terminals, means for electrically connecting the other batteryterminal with the other light bulb terminal, and resilient means fornormally urging said supporting member outwardly whereby to open theelectric circuit.

9. In combination with a dry cell battery having an opening in the sidecovering thereof, a hollow cap member engaging the terminal end of saidbattery in fixed relation thereto, said cap member having an inwardlyprojecting. portion adapted to enter the opening in said batterycovering whereby to contact one terminal of said battery, a lampsupporting member interconnected with said cap member and adapted tomove relative thereto, said. supporting member being adapted to be urgedinwardly whereby to close the electric circuit by bringing the centralterminal of the lamp into contact with the central battery terminal, anda spring member for normally urging said supporting member outwardlywhereby to open the electric circuit.

10. A flashlight comprising, in combination, a battery, a cap memberfixedly engaging the terminal end of said battery and having a centralopening above said battery, a lamp supporting member mounted forrelative reciprocation within the opening in said cap member with aportion thereof protruding above said cap, member, stop means forlimiting the outward movement of said supporting member, and springmeans for normally urging said supporting. member outwardly to aposition wherein said stop means is brought into operation and whereinthe electric circuit remains open.

11. A flashlight comprising, in combination, a battery, a cap memberfixedly engaging the terminal end of said battery and having a centralopening above said battery, a lamp supporting member mounted within theopening in said cap member for reciprocation relative thereto, resilientmeans for normally holding said supporting member in circuit opening,position, said supporting member being depressible to momentarily closethe electric circuit, and cam means operative upon the turning of saidsupporting member for causing the lamp terminal to contact a batteryterminal whereby to hold the electric circuit close.

HARRY T. KINGSBURY.

